


The City Over the Mountains

by Narya_Flame



Series: Never and Always [3]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Book: The Fall of Gondolin, Complicated Relationships, First Age, Gondolin, M/M, Novella, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Third Person, Past Tense, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 12:05:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19790530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya_Flame/pseuds/Narya_Flame
Summary: A midwinter dalliance grows into something neither Elemmakil nor Voronwë expect.  Duty, family and the ghosts of their past lie between them, and beyond the Hidden City, the shadows lengthen and grow deep...





	The City Over the Mountains

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the SWG Pride challenge. 
> 
> This is a work in progress. [My prompt](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147275/a-litany-for-survival) sparked a scene that I knew straight away belonged in the middle of a much longer fic. This is not that scene.
> 
> This story begins immediately before another fic of mine, [Comfort and Joy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15943076), and is part of the same series.

The air at the tunnel's mouth tasted of starlight. Wind hissed through the mountains and whispered over the Dry River's stones. The thicket of thorns cackled and rattled, winter-dry, and the lands beyond slept under snow.

Elemmakil crouched and touched the frozen ground. _Come with me,_ it murmured. _Let us run._

He closed his eyes, longing to heed its call...

A memory of ice. Idril, too weak to cry. Turgon, wordless, broken. Ecthelion, held in Elemmakil's arms, half-drowned, eyes full of grief. A wind that would flay them alive – and then, years later, the two of them standing by a lake at dawn. A vow. _“I would follow you into Angband itself, whether you asked it of me or no.”_ Resignation, resolve. _“I will come with you to Gondolin.”_

And he would not break his word. 

“Elemmakil?”

Laeron. His lieutenant. “What is it?”

“Our relief is here.”

He nodded his thanks and straightened. It was Yule, and each year Turgon took care to ensure that his border guards had at least some time to enjoy the festivities. Elemmakil had no family – not here – but it would be a pleasant enough respite. 

Outside the tunnel, the wind still sang. _Run. Run. Run._

He turned away and went with Laeron into the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Elemmakil's vow to Ecthelion is from [this short piece](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17460806), which I wrote as a gift for Kenaz.
> 
> I haven't yet told the story of their time on the Ice.


End file.
